GDT: Buffalo at Ottawa, Dec. 23, 2019, 7:30 ET, MSG, WGR

[SwampD]

7 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

They had a ton of scoring chances. All scoring chances are dangerous by definition. It's what they did with their chances that was the problem. 

Some chances have a better chance of going in. It didn’t feel like any of ours had a chance of going in tonight.

[Robviously]

4 minutes ago, Kruppstahl said:

Tonight's a good night to call out Reinhart.  

He's a floater who routinely plays way below his potential.

He cannot drive play and he lives and dies with the success of Jack. He should be moved, perhaps with other assets, for a group of assets in return. 

And can someone tell me why BOGO is playing on this team?

He's f-ing terrible and doesn't want to be here.

 

 

 

Oh goodness — NO. Please no more “good player for group of assets” trades. We’re still trying to recover from the ROR debacle. I know this will sound impossible given our sleepy GM but *make a hockey trade*! Like if you’re going to trade Reinhart, do it 1-for-1 for a center. And this franchise is dying for a blockbuster hockey trade. 

Like the rest of the universe, I can’t explain Bogo. He should never play another game as a Sabre. But he’ll probably be in the lineup on Friday because YOLO. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Kruppstahl said:

Tonight's a good night to call out Reinhart.  

He's a floater who routinely plays way below his potential.

He cannot drive play and he lives and dies with the success of Jack. He should be moved, perhaps with other assets, for a group of assets in return. 

And can someone tell me why BOGO is playing on this team?

He's f-ing terrible and doesn't want to be here.

 

 

 

all of this and more (or less depending on how you look at it).

f'n rubbish all of it.

Everyone do yourselves a favor and have a Merry Christmas and make that a reality by not thinking about the Sabres. That's what I'm going to do. See ya all Friday - or later.......

[Scottysabres]

1 hour ago, Robviously said:

Oh goodness — NO. Please no more “good player for group of assets” trades. We’re still trying to recover from the ROR debacle. I know this will sound impossible given our sleepy GM but *make a hockey trade*! Like if you’re going to trade Reinhart, do it 1-for-1 for a center. And this franchise is dying for a blockbuster hockey trade. 

Like the rest of the universe, I can’t explain Bogo. He should never play another game as a Sabre. But he’ll probably be in the lineup on Friday because YOLO. 

I completely agree with you on the hockey trade scenario. I also agree with Krupp, I watched a good bit of Reinhart this evening, and some other games this season, he is a floater for a good portion of games. Not something this team needs nor can afford to allow imo.

[bunomatic]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

all of this and more (or less depending on how you look at it).

f'n rubbish all of it.

Everyone do yourselves a favor and have a Merry Christmas and make that a reality by not thinking about the Sabres. That's what I'm going to do. See ya all Friday - or later.......

The one thing that will take my mind off the Sabres that I’ll really enjoy is the world juniors. Win or lose we’ve got some prospects to watch. 

[Huckleberry]

9 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

You will awake to the smell of victory in the morning.

[North Buffalo]

On the good news front my beer league team won! I scored my first goal since getting back on the ice... a cross ice tap in!  Felt really good.  Eric the Composer let me know if you want join us.

[JohnRobertEichel]

8 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

Tonight's a good night to call out Reinhart.  

He's a floater who routinely plays way below his potential.

He cannot drive play and he lives and dies with the success of Jack. He should be moved, perhaps with other assets, for a group of assets in return. 

And can someone tell me why BOGO is playing on this team?

He's f-ing terrible and doesn't want to be here.

 

 

 

 

I have no idea. Can you tell me why Sheary, Vesey, Rodrigues, and McCabe are on this team? The most likely answer may be: grossly incompetent GM.

[PASabreFan]

3 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

Tonight a bearded fat man will come down your chimney!

[apuszczalowski]

1 hour ago, Marchand'sNose said:

 

I have no idea. Can you tell me why Sheary, Vesey, Rodrigues, and McCabe are on this team? The most likely answer may be: grossly incompetent GM.

It's easy

McCabe was a prospect people around here thought was going to be special (like almost all prospects around here)

Rodrigues IIRC was a friend off Jack's from his college team......

Sherry played for Pittsburgh.......

And the Buffalo front office has a huge hard on for Vesey......

Edited December 24, 2019 by apuszczalowski

[woods-racer]

11 hours ago, dudacek said:

Sam needs to be better, but this has got to stop.

He has 10 points in 11 December games and is a plus player.

Marcus Johansson has 5 points and is -4. Skinner has 4 points and -6. Vesey 4 points, Sheary 3, Rodrigues 1.

A “bad” Sam Reinhart is still easily one of our best forwards.

Sam is being dragged along by Jack.

Sam is not elevating Jack's game.

If Sam was *that good* he would have his own line. We need balanced scoring. The third Coach now sees that Sam can't drive his own line on a team that is  thin on talent.

[Kristian]

Dear Zach Bogossian,

You are not increasing your chances of being traded by being this bad.

Sincerely,

Common Sense

[woods-racer]

1 minute ago, Kristian said:

Dear Zach Bogossian,

You are not increasing your chances of being traded by being this bad.

Sincerely,

Common Sense

Or,

How about when Jack got his faced washed why not on the next shift our big tuff veteran defenseman brings some nasty to the ice.

Doing what you can when your needed doesn't always mean scoring a goal. He's just going through the motions and trying not to get injured in the hopes of another contract coming his way.

[dudacek]

21 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Sam is being dragged along by Jack.

Sam is not elevating Jack's game.

If Sam was *that good* he would have his own line. We need balanced scoring. The third Coach now sees that Sam can't drive his own line on a team that is  thin on talent.

Substitute the name of any Sabre forward for Sam. Does anything change for you?

Even if this is all correct, how does our team benefit from benching him?

[Taro T]

Anderson and Pageau were the 2 best players last night by far.

Was very disappointed by Reinhart the 1st 40 minutes, but he actually was playing physically in the 3rd (assuming it was the scrum started by a stick less Tkachuk in the 2nd that triggered it, whatever it was let's see if he can bring that again on Friday) and looked good the 1st 15 minutes of that period.

Didn't like Sheary nor Rodrigues in the 1st.  Both playing very soft and having their usual (for this season) turnovers.  But after Lazar and Asplund got benched, they actually had some of the team's best chances.  Kind of surprising, but hopefully they can continue that.  Rodrigues might, doubt Conor will.

Any idea what injury Johansson is playing through?  Since coming back to the lineup he's been a shell of what he was prior to going out a few games.  (Groin, knee, other LB?). He had 2 opportunities to get shots from good scoring positions (Skinner rush/ scramble & feed from Eichel on PP) & turned both away from the net.  Also stayed on the ice a long time late in the 2nd after a collision in the corner.  The total lack of C depth is keeping this guy in the lineup when they'd probably be better giving him a week off to heal up.

Though he couldn't finish, liked Skinner ' s effort.

Dahlin continues his strong play since coming back from injury.  Giving Ristolainen a run for his money for best defender at present.

Horrible job by McCabe on the 1st goal & slow reaction from Olofsson (?, maybe Sam) when Eichel left Pageau to help Jake.  Linus played so well this game; too bad he couldn't steal that one there.  Other than that; McCabe was unnoticeable, which was good, but that was enough damage.

Can Bogosian please get punted into the sun?  Not to pile on, but he could have single handedly given them 2 more goals than the 1 he did give them.  And considering how awful the Otter PP is; would likely to have seen Krueger challenge goalie interference on the 2nd goal.  Only a 5% chance of winning it, but there was no real downside to the challenge.  And it would've given Lazar and Asplund 1 last shift each. 

Yes, they lost to the Otters.  And they are now the 11th team out of 17 to do so in Otter land this year.  Too bad Anderson came back a game too early.  They probably would've beat the backup, but had no real chance against their #1.

If this convinces Botterill to pull the trigger, it was worth it.  Doubt it does.

Merry Christmas to all.  And to those that don't celebrate Christmas - happy holidays.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

39 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Sam is being dragged along by Jack.

Sam is not elevating Jack's game.

If Sam was *that good* he would have his own line. We need balanced scoring. The third Coach now sees that Sam can't drive his own line on a team that is  thin on talent.

As I see it, if we take Sam off Jack's line we only have 2 players to replace him that would likely benefit "enough" from playing with Jack to make up for moving Sam....Skinner and Johansson. Then you will lose Sam's production as well. I don't see it doing any good and think "adding" another player to the roster is the real answer, such as a true 2C or another good wing.

[Taro T]

58 minutes ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

As I see it, if we take Sam off Jack's line we only have 2 players to replace him that would likely benefit "enough" from playing with Jack to make up for moving Sam....Skinner and Johansson. Then you will lose Sam's production as well. I don't see it doing any good and think "adding" another player to the roster is the real answer, such as a true 2C or another good wing.

Yep.  Guys that MIGHT replace Reinhart's output on that top line are Johansson and Skinner; and as Skinner can't pass, realistically Johansson is the only guy that could replace what Sam does on that line.

So, to move Reinhart off that line, you either give Eichel 2 finishers or you drop the center depth another significant notch.

So my don't see either of those moves making sense.

The other in house option would be to give Jack & Olofsson a true 3rd/ 4th liner.  It does spread the scoring out some, in theory, as you now have 3 top 6 players not on Eichel's line that can now play as a line or be spread over the 2nd and 3rd scoring lines.  But how much offense do you give up off the top line by doing so?  And, there is no guarantee that breaking the 1 one up will actually help the other 2.  (Especially if Reinhart is as much of a passenger as he gets accused of being by several here.  Get him off Jack's line - he's a passenger.  And, get him his own line - he's a driver.  He's a floor wax AND a dessert topping.)

Agreed that barring a trade, there isn't much available to improve 2ndary scoring.  Would keep Johansson and Skinner together and then try to find that bit of chemistry to make something that doesn't quite fit actually work.

Would really like a belated Christmas present when the roster freeze ends.

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Tonight a bearded fat man will come down your chimney!

Oh, you've been growing your whiskers out, PA?

[Scottysabres]

So, how much should Botterill consider cutting away from the team mid season? That seems to be a question that needs to be asked.

Contrary to popular belief or opinion, the Sabres could move some roster assets I would surmise.

Sheary, Bogo, Scandella, Risto, Reinhart, one of Girgensons or Larsson, E-Rod and yes, even Hutton could be moved. Obviously the returns aren't going to be as palatable as fans would like, but at the end of the day, when all is said and done, this team needs more than just a shake up imo. It needs muscle, to protect the skill, it needs additional skill, it needs a PK specialist or 2, it needs another netminder with some up tick in stable play, it needs a 2nd line center and, to me in any event, most important of all, it needs size players with energy and grit.

One more item, I even hate saying it, but, something that I've felt for some time, but if the ownership and management of this team don't address the situation, how much longer before Jack decides to bale? Honest question considering the first 5 years of his career appear to have been completely wasted, and Jack is a competitor that I am more than sure would like to win. Just a question that I ponder more often than not this past year or so.

The organization as a whole, in my view, based on product entertainment value and performance over these past 5 years, is a complete and utter failure overall imo.

[PASabreFan]

15 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Oh, you've been growing your whiskers out, PA?

I deny that! I'm not fat.

[Doohickie]

Then why do people refer to your cherubic figure?

[woods-racer]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Substitute the name of any Sabre forward for Sam. Does anything change for you?

Even if this is all correct, how does our team benefit from benching him?

Vesey.

Sam = Vesey to me.

They are interchangeable.

Either one playing with Jack and getting the same PP time will have the same stats.

The team can't bench him. That's the saddest point of all. They are so short on offense our slow cerebral set up guy can only get high marks in the 3rd for playing physical. That  is the best we got out of him, yippy. 

If we had a decent team, benching him in the third might have given us a better chance to win.

Edited December 24, 2019 by woods-racer

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

41 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Vesey.

Sam = Vesey to me.

They are interchangeable.

Either one playing with Jack and getting the same PP time will have the same stats.

The team can't bench him. That's the saddest point of all. They are so short on offense our slow cerebral set up guy can only get high marks in the 3rd for playing physical. That  is the best we got out of him, yippy. 

If we had a decent team, benching him in the third might have given us a better chance to win.

What good will it do to turn Sam into Vesey and vice versa? You still end up with the same product on the ice, nothing better.

[Sabre1974]

I just want to see Botts do something. Hope he does not repeat last season

[inkman]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

I deny that! I'm not fat.

Too bad. I like a little something to grab onto. Maybe you hair will work.